Kiran Ridley

Kiran Ridley is an award-winning British photojournalist in Paris, working for leading worldwide publications. Ridley grew up between England’s South-West, Hong Kong and India and has been a photographer since 1998. He studied Documentary Photography at The University of Wales in Newport, then freelanced for a decade for the British national press before concentrating on work that focussed on global socio-political issues and the human experience.

HONG KONG – SEPTEMBER 29, 2019: A pro-democracy protestor throws a molotov cocktail towards police, setting fire to other protestors during anti-government demonstrations as Hong Kong braces itself for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China in two days time.

Ridley has covered significant international protests and hard news stories attempting to find images that humanise the headlines and look beyond the usual news cliches. In 2019 he worked extensively in Hong Kong, recording the pro-democracy movement that swept through the territory, examining the role of youthful rebellion, colonial rule, religion, food and culture within Hong Kong, attempting to show the complexity of the issues around the protest within a wider political context. His current project is committed to documenting the ongoing issues around democracy and societal change in post-conflict Armenia. His work seeks to record everyday life along the fractious borders with Azerbaijan and concentrates on the daily life of those affected by war and privation.

A consummate portraitist, Ridley has worked on commissions for clients like the Sunday Times Magazine, Universal Records and the Welsh National Opera, photographing significant figures in entertainment, music and culture. He is interested in documenting diverse groups that have cultural and political significance through individual portraits and portrait stories. In this way, he has worked on archives that have chronicled the alternative lifestyles of Solstice celebrants at Stonehenge, those fleeing political persecution as migrants in both Greece and Turkey and the struggles of the Gay Liberation Movement in Paris. His long-term portrait series on food producers saw him creatively document the farmers, fishermen and artisans that feed the people of Great Britain.

KHNATSAKH, ARMENIA – APRIL 7, 2021: Vladik, a 58 year old shepherd stares out towards the Azeri Border, a land that, until last year’s devastating 44 day war, was part of Armenia in the small village of Khnatsakh, Armenia, on 7 April 2021.

Ridley was named Editorial Photographer of the Year 2020 in the Lucie IPA Awards and won the Kolga Tbilisi Reportage Awards for his reportage on Hong Kong.

Over the years, his photography has been further recognised in The Siena Awards, The World Humanity Awards, The Prix de la Photographie Paris, The Association of Photographers (AoP) ‘Document’ Awards, The Ian Parry Award, The UK Picture Editor’s Awards, The Observer Hodge Award and The Tom Webster Award.

His photographs have been published throughout the world, including The Sunday Times Magazine, The Times and The Financial Times, The LA Times, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Le Figaro, Le Point, Die Welt, El Pais, Sydney Morning Herald, Globe and Mail, Guardian, Forbes, Time, Newsweek, Economist Magazine, GQ and Conde Nast.

Books, Films and Exhibitions

State of the World Exhibition – Paris, October 2021
Revolution of Our Time, Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Demonstrations – Siena, October 2020
BPPA Assignments Exhibition – London, May 2019